Local SEO For Pest Control

There are two ways we recommend doing local SEO, the first is with an optimized website that includes location pages, the second way is getting your GMB profile to show up in the map pack on front page. 

There are three and sometimes even four sections on the front page of the SERPS. At the top is Google screening; this is a way to pay your way up to the top of the page.

​

Next are paid ads; we don’t subscribe to this marketing channel because it takes approximately three months of testing before you see any tangible. It’s also a well-known fact that only 9 out of every ten clicks convert into a lead, and even fewer become a sale.

​

After this section comes your GMB listing, these businesses have earned the right to be on the front page and are treated by searchers with more reverence. These businesses are listed beside an area map and show the business’s information, including phone number, address, website, and reviews, which we will cover more in a moment. The last section is organic results. Your map listing and pest control SEO work together to get your website exposure and leads.

​

Creating Your Business Listing

 

If you do not have a business listening, then right now, I want you to log into your Gmail email and set one up. Until you do this, the rest of this chapter will be only informative; the key to success isn’t knowledge but application. Once you’re in your G-mail account, go to the top right-hand corner, where you will see a series of 9 grey dots; when you hover over it, the words “app” will appear. Click on these dots and go to the blue building with the word “Business profile” it will say add a business and then allow you to type in your business name.

 

Once you have entered the code, you will gain access to your dashboard. I want you to get very comfortable with this dashboard unless, of course, you have hired a pest control SEO firm then they can manage this for you.

GMB offers you a lot as the owner of a pest control company, so why not take full advantage of it? Play around with the different tabs on the dashboard, and you will see things such as insights, where you can learn about who is seeing your business and how many views and calls are to your site; you have a chat where you can chat with your customers, your reviews where you will respond to those who left you a review. There is so much you can do.

 

 

GMB Optimization Listing Includes: 

 

• Have your GMB login

• Update your business name

• Add your website address

• Use a local number

• Updated photos

• Add hours of operation

• List services you provide

• Cities you serve.

 

 

The first thing you want to do is ensure that everything is accurately complete on your profile. Continue to drill down the page answering every question thoroughly. On the home tab of your dashboard is a tool that will show you how complete your profile is; aim for 100%.

 

Here is where most businesses need help to complete their profile and products. Most pest control companies misunderstand SEO and get thrown off by the wording and may not think that if they don’t have a physical product to offer, they can skip over this but instead list all the services you provide. Now if there are services not listed, you can add those in manually. You also want to write a full description and

sprinkle in your keywords in these areas.

​

As a rule of thumb, you want to keep your profile current by adding a post at least once every 90 days. Our pest control SEO firm posts twice each month to keep the fresh activity going because the post cycle out every 90 days. In addition to witting posts, also update your profile by adding 2 or 3 original photos per month.

 

Above all, get reviews from past and current customers; these never cycle out, but the more reviews you have, the more you will gain traction. You want to get a review from all your customers consistently, and you want to respond to all good and bad reviews. Here is another opportunity to add your pest control keywords.

 

Lastly, don’t overlook the Q & A section; if people ask questions here, be sure to respond, and if they don’t, use this as an opportunity to write your own Q&A in long form using keywords that will help your rankings. If you are doing SEO for pest control, chances are you know which keywords to include.

​

Things That Can Hurt Your Listing

​

• Incontinence: Having different locations listed than what is listed on your profile

• Don’t spam your categories. Only list the services you offer.

• Don’t use a PO Box or shared office as your location.

• Do you have enough reviews across the web?

• Having fake reviews

• 1-, 2-, and 3-star reviews

 

Top three local search ranking factors?

​

• Relevance

• Distance

• prominence.

 

 Relevance

​

How close are you to the user search queries? You can use many tactics to ensure your GMB listing is as relevant as possible so that if you are near you show up as one of the first choices.

Accurate category: Choose the category most appropriate to your area. We suggest not just choosing “pest control” for your primary category but adding to it your GMB listing.

 

Thorough descriptions: If done carefully, you can incorporate keyword phrases that will help with your pest control SEO effort. Go ahead and max out your profile's character limit (750, including spaces). Ensure the description is relevant by following the guidelines in the Business Description Guidelines.

 

Liberal use of imagery/video: Add as many images as possible (and definitely more than competitors). In our experience, profiles with 50+ images get a boost over profiles lacking images. In addition, add any videos you have of your company to your GMB profile.

​

Detailed service sections: Google provides sections in GMB profiles to describe your services. Use all 1,000 characters allowed, if possible, and remember to include your pest control keywords.

Comprehensive service areas: Include all areas that your technicians serve. For example, include those areas in your profile that surround your office. For example, if you’re a pest control company in Dallas, you may also serve Plano, Frisco, McKinney, and maybe Fort Worth.

Consistent information: Ensure that your name, address, and phone number information is consistent with other listings on the internet and what appears on your website. Fill in your business's accurate operating hours and website URL, and ensure all other fields have information. Leave nothing blank; aim for 100 percent.

 

Distance: Google uses proximity (the relationship between their location and that reported by a business’s IP address or other methods) to determine which local GMB directory results to show to searchers. Unlike pest control SEO (where links are the #1 ranking factor), proximity is local search’s top-ranking factor.

Consider this: when you’re on vacation, and you search for restaurants, what do you expect to see? Places nearby your resort, not establishments two states away. No matter how great the restaurant is, it’s unlikely to appear in local Maps results if it's not in your immediate vicinity.

 

Prominence: From the Cambridge Dictionary: prominence is “the state of being easily seen or well known.”

One of the most challenging aspects of local pest control SEO is improving a company’s overall prominence. This is because the competition dictates the prominence needed to appear in the three-pack. That is, there are several factors that need to be considered:

 

Links: Having more authoritative backlinks than the competition is, as we analogized earlier, akin to having more “votes” for your placement in the three-pack.

​

Articles: Publishing articles on external sites typically incorporates a link of some kind, so it’s a mutually beneficial relationship.

​

Images: As we mentioned previously in organic search, having substantially more images than competitors has been shown to increase rankings positively. Unsurprisingly, the same is also true for local searches.

Directories: Similar to the Yellow Pages before the dawn of the internet, these are used to find a business. Still, they also help Google better understand how to categorize your business. They frequently include NAP, an acronym for Name, Address, and Phone Number. Citations also assist search engines because they dictate your location's specific coordinates. Some citations use latitude and longitude.

Reviews: Not only is the number of reviews significant, but also the rating. By having a high rating, you can rank for superlative-based searches (e.g., “best pest control company in Chicago,” etc.).